This week is going to be a crazy one -so this will be a pretty short post. I'm heading up to Vegas tomorrow for a work event, fly back Friday, pick up the family, head out to Phoenix to stay with Eric and Kim (thanks for having us!) Then we'll go over the course Saturday, race the Desert Classic Duathlon Sunday and then head back to Temecula on Monday. I'm hoping that I can stay healthy, get SOME rest and eat well during my travels - but that might be hard. Not to mention getting in some quality prep workouts before the race. At least this week falls on my rest week in my training schedule, which is much needed. For those of you that don't know what a duathlon is -it's Run, Bike, Run - basically just replacing the swim portion of the triathlon with another run. In this case I'll be doing a 3.5 mile run, a 15 mile Mountain Bike ride, then a 3 mile run.

I've put in the most volume the past 3 weeks than I ever have in my life---including when I used to run 100+ miles a week. My body handled it pretty well until literally the last day. I was wrapping up my third hard week with a 14 mile long run which included 50 minutes at tempo. I felt extremely good - I was on pace to go sub 1:30 for a half with my heart rate only around 60% of my max. It was very encouraging to see the gains I've made in just one month. But then with about 3 miles to go I felt my gastrocnemius muscle (upper/outside of the calf) tighten up and had me eventually walking/jogging the rest of the way in. It's that same right side that I've had problems with in my lower calf and IT Band. I'm sure something needs to be adjusted -it can't all be coincidence that all the problems lay on the right side of my body! Oh well, I've just been icing, massaging and keeping away from running until later this week. Hope it holds up for the race. If it does, I think I have a chance of placing pretty high. The Bike Shop is being so gracious and loaning me some Reynolds Carbon Race demo wheels for the race. I also got some new Kenda tires which are lighter and faster. Along with the wheel set, my bike will lose a lot of weight and I'm excited to test it out. As far as the run goes, I know I'll be competitive (I think I am in 16:00 5k shape) and if I can just maintain it on the bike and avoid flats and crashes, I should be ready to hunt anyone down in the last 3 mile run portion.

Wish me luck!!

Oh yea, Happy Birthday to this little champ---My son Taylor just turned one!

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About Me

I'm a former "elite" runner that turned into a triathlete and have raced for the Wattie Ink team since 2012. After qualifying for IM 70.3 Worlds and having my "Kona Journey" documented in LAVA Magazine in 2014, I took a 3 year break and now document my journey back to fitness with a goal of breaking 2:40 in the marathon and breaking the Masters 4x800 World Record while taking care of my beautiful wife and four kids.